I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Racism Essay

“I was really white and because a cruel fairy stepmother, who was understandably jealous of my beauty, had turned me into a too-big Negro girl, with nappy black hair, broad feet and a space between her teeth that would hold a number-two pencil” (Angelou 2-3). This quote from Maya Angelou’s memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings acts as an example of how racism had already made its way into Maya Angelou’s life, despite her being such a young age. Maya Angelou portrays this theme of racism throughout her book. Within her memoir, she explains the racism she faced throughout her life and illustrates how, in a way, this racism made her self aware and led her towards being the person who she is today. The theme of racism contributed to Maya’s journey to self-awareness, as the racism she faced motivated her to accomplish unheard of tasks, revealed to her the difficulties of being a black person, and eventually gave her the pride of being black. First off, the racism Maya faced motivated her to accomplish a goal that was unheard of - becoming the first black conductorette in San Francisco. While living in San Francisco, Maya had an ambitious idea of becoming a conductorette. No black person had ever achieved such a feat before, which made this task more significant as well as inspired Maya to
The racism she encountered propelled her to achieve unheard of goals, such as becoming the first black conductorette in San Francisco. Additionally, the racist world she was trapped in unveiled to Maya her own weakness of having dark skin color. Lastly, Maya became prideful of her black culture and the fact that she is black. Despite racism itself being harmful to Maya, it made her self-aware of her own motives, disadvantages, and pride. All-in-all, Maya Angelou became the women she is today due to the racism she experienced throughout her